The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Zebra’. ‘Zebra’ represents a new Bigleaf Hydrangea, a deciduous shrub grown for landscape use and for use as a potted plant.
‘Zebra’ was discovered by the inventor as a naturally occurring branch mutation of Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Schneeball’ (not patented) in June 2003 in De Kwakel, The Netherlands. The inventor produces approximately 10,000 plants of the parent variety ‘Schneeball’ in his nursery annually and discovered one branch on a single plant that was nearly black in coloration; stem cuttings of the mutant branch resulted in the new cultivar, ‘Zebra’.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings in De Kwakel, The Netherlands in July 2003 by the inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.